Pitchfork

Owners of the Number 1 album in the UK, Snow Patrol, have got Eyes Open and transfixed squarely on us ignorant Americans. Eyes Open, the band's follow up to 2003's breakthrough Final Straw, lands in America today, May 9 via A&M;/Interscope Records. Inevitably, a North American tour will follow.

For the album, frontman Gary Lightbody recruited Big Star/R.E.M. helper-outer Ken Stringfellow (Lightbody + Stringfellow...has a nice ring to it, no?) as well as a choir of elite Celtic musicians. Canadian royalty Martha Wainwright stopped in to provide vocals for "Set the Fire to the Third Bar."

Tracks:

01 You're All I Have
02 Hands Open
03 Chasing Cars
04 Shut Your Eyes
05 It's Beginning to Get to Me
06 You Could Be Happy
07 Make This Go on Forever
08 Set the Fire to the Third Bar
09 Headlights on Dark Roads
10 Open Your Eyes
11 The Finish Line

Snow Patrol will start off their North American tour later this month. Meteorologically speaking, can we even have a Snow Patrol summer tour? Does this have something to do with the ice caps?

Dates:

05-13 Dundee, Scotland - Camperdown Country Park
05-23 Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre *
05-25 Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre *
05-26 Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ *
05-27 Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theatre *
05-29 Atlanta, GA - Roxy Theatre *
05-31 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
06-02 Boston, MA - Avalon *
06-03 New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom *
06-05 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory *
06-06 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis *
06-07 Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus *
06-09 Pontiac, MI - Clutch Cargo's *
06-10 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre *
06-11 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
06-14 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom *
06-15 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre *
06-16 Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre *
06-18 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theare *
06-20 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern LG *
07-14 Suffolk, England - Henham Park (Latitude Festival)
08-19 Dublin, Ireland - Marley Park
08-25 Edinburgh, Scotland - Meadowbank Stadium
08-27 Cornwall, England - Eden Project
09-02 Trinity, Jersey, England - Royal Jersey Showground

* with the Duke Spirit and Augustana